A local decor shop has been left with a pattern of complaints filed by online shoppers leading to an "F" rating on the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Burke Decor's brick-and-mortar shops are Boardman-based but the company is a global e-commerce business with over one-million customers and wants shoppers to know they're working on getting this situation resolved. 

Burke Decor has two locations in Boardman, open since 2007. 

"So, these complaints can vary from consumer to consumer and situation to situation," Melissa Ames, President and CEO of the Youngstown Better Business Bureau said, "What we have been in contact with the business is that a lot of consumers are seeing our product that's available on the website and shows for delivery, and so they go ahead and order it thinking that they should be getting it in a period of time, and they're not. Other consumers have told us that they're also having trouble obtaining refunds."

The BBB and the company point out that the "F" is not the complaints of local shoppers, and that there's more than meets the eye.

It turns out, that those complaints mainly come from e-commerce shoppers from as far as the West Coast, as Burke Decor has a global network of customers.

One consumer from Washington state, Jillian Legard, said she filed complaints after ordering over $500 rug.

After waiting months longer than expected, she said she canceled her order and requested money back, but didn't get the refund, although, she added the company has been communicative and that she is now working with her bank in hopes of getting the money back. 

The BBB said that while 174 complaints remain unanswered, hundreds have been resolved as the BBB has been in contact with the Burke Decor to do so.

Burke Decor said it experienced an unusually high amount of orders during a specific time period that was impacted by changes in its credit card processing and understands the frustrations, adding that they're working to resolve this efficiently.

Burke Decor also adds, that it is actively offering impacted clients compensation and free merchandise on a case-by-case basis, and said this past year has been complicated for digital retailers with complex changes with their systems.

Burke Decor also told 21 News in part, "The issues referenced by the group and BBB have impacted a small percentage of our overall business, none of which is specific to the brick and mortar retail operations in Youngstown or the WFMJ audience. We are a global e-commerce company and we have over 1.5m active customers in our system. We have been in business since 2007. We were founded in Youngstown and have remained committed to providing jobs for over 60 employees, as well as economic resources to the community for over 17 years."

The company added, "We had a subset of orders during a specific time period impacted by changes in our credit card processing environment, whereby we have had to work individually with clients to issue credits via an alternate method as we do not store credit card information. We understand this was an incredibly frustrating experience for customers that caused delays, and we have been working to resolve this for all impacted clients as efficiently as possible. We are actively offering impacted clients compensation and free merchandise to clients on a case by case basis who were affected."

Burke Decor also said the past year has been complicated for retailers nationwide, "especially digitally native," and that their business 
climate compounded with "complex and unexpected lender issues," as well as systems changes and "updates" they said they've faced that have presented "significant challenges," beyond their control. 

The company added in part, "We are actively and strategically working to resolve and restructure to address all of these issues, as well as revising our freight systems and tech stack so as to better service our customers, partners and vendors.  We are aware of the recent concerns and how they are impacting our customers and suppliers and we are totally dedicated to resolving each and every issue and improving and restoring Burke Decor's distinction in the home space by continuing to deliver a broad range of exceptional products to homeowners and industry professionals."

The company expanded further as to what it's doing to improve its business model:

"As part of this process, the company has assembled a team of turnaround and marketing professionals and has developed a multifaceted comprehensive turnaround plan including:
  1. Cost savings initiatives to hold down prices for our customers
  2.  Investing in our employees to better communicate with our customers in the digital space
  3. Improve customer response and product shipping times
  4. A comprehensive restructuring of our marketing initiatives to save millions on customer acquisition and retention services
  5.  Partnering with key suppliers and vendors to ensure optimal product assortment and to further develop the company's private label initiatives. 
  6. The company is also evaluating options for outside investment as it seeks to launch new categories within the home space, based on consumer demand and to better service our trade clients and hospitality-focused initiatives.

We are in the process of addressing internal operations, staffing issues, and outsourced services for better long-term results. As a business that grew quickly to scale during the pandemic, staffing vs outsource is a complicated issue that requires long term strategy and commitment."